August woke up on Easter to a maze of string ALL OVER our apartment. This is his reaction first thing in the morning:

We put on proper clothes, and explored the string maze. I love his response, “Uh! It’s ‘ttached up to this!” The maze ended at his Easter basket. He was kinda underwhelmed by the finale. Ha.

After a big breakfast, we put on our Easter duds and went to Aunt Sarah’s house for an Easter egg hunt. Aunt Sarah, Uncle Matt, and Jude weren’t there; they were just loaning us their yard. I, of course, outfitted us in thrift store finds. $3 blue corduroy blazer for Gus–adorable! Especially with his yellow “spenders”.

Notice the stick up his sleeve? My kid still loves sticks. And trains. I don’t see these obsessions coming to an end any time soon. 🙂

August’s preschool celebrated Valentine’s Day last week with a party and valentine exchange. He made a valentine tote out of a cereal box at school (adorable). Being the cheap/project-inclined mama that I am, I decided to have August make crayons for his class instead of buying candy that no 3 year old really needs. So a trip to Dollar Tree yielded a 48 crayon box for $1 and Target had a heart shape ice/muffin tray in its dollar bins. Total cost=$2 for 30 valentines. I did the first step: cutting up crayons.

But August then loaded up the hearts with the crayon bits. I tried having a discussion about color theory beforehand….I don’t know how much he absorbed.

We put them in the oven for about fifteen minutes at 275 degrees (I think), and they came out looking a little strange. I was worried at this point.

But after letting them cool and harden, we popped them out of the tray, and saw how pretty they were in all their marbelized glory. So cute, and so fun!

I forgot (AGAIN) to take pictures of the final product, but basically, I had August sign his name once (C-U-T-E) and photocopied it at school, then attached the crayons to paper, put them in little bags that I already had and tied them with heart ribbon that I’d gotten at Tiger in Copenhagen, a Dollar Tree equivalent, a couple years ago. Another successful Valentine’s Day!

One of my 2011 resolutions was to start experimenting with my hair more. So I started rocking some ‘do’s to keep my hair out of my face. I love them all equally. I am NO master of hair, so if I can do these, so can you!

A series of little buns.

Heidi braids.

The Gibson tuck. Inspired by the AMAZING Downton Abbey.

When all else fails, wear a hat. Preferably one that matches your son’s. 🙂

The very first room I set up was August’s. I’m pretty sure it was complete by the end of the third day, which is mostly because I already had all of the things I needed from his last room.

The room was already painted this muted olive color, which totally worked with all of his stuff. August loves the little tent, which was my Christmas present to him last year (It was the “want” of my “want, need, wear, read” gift standard for my kid). He keeps most of his stuffed animals in there, and he usually runs in there to “hide” if he’s in trouble. 🙂

On the tent side of the room, he also has two small bookcases overflowing with books (most of which have been picked up at thrift stores over the years), instruments (accordian!!), instruments and non-staining art supplies (I have the paints and oil pastels somewhere else just in case he decides to become an artist in the middle of the night). Next to that is his little art table. It used to be red, but I painted it with chalkboard paint when we moved. Above his table is a map where we’re keeping track of the places he’s been. His passport has some pretty nifty stamps in it already!

On the bed side of the room is his gallery wall, which includes photos of him, his footprint from the hospital on the day he was born, my BELOVED Muppet Show album cover, mementos of places he’s lived (a vintage postcard from Jesus College in Cambridge and an “A” subway mosaic from Atlantic Avenue in NYC, a lock of his baby hair, a pic of August and his dad and a couple August originals. My fav is the big white square one. When we used to ride the subway together in NYC, August sometimes drew on a page of the little notebook I take with me EVERYWHERE. I took one of the 5×8 inch pages to Staples and had them blow it up to poster size for $3. Instant art. It used to hang above MY bed in my old bedroom. I can’t wait to fill in the wall more–it will be an ever-growing exhibition. There is also some other handmade art from family and friends scattered about in other spots in the room.

And now for my ubiquitous video tour, here’s a 360 of his room, with a special guest star appearance at the end!